Textile loom picker stick



Dec. 10, 1968 p LACEY ET AL TEXTILE LOOM PICKER STICK Filed Feb. 8. 1967 INVENTORS? Pmup P. LACE-Y anrl WILBUR L. PRibGEN BYM 5, Jug, @14

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,415,289 TEXTILE LOOM PICKER STICK Philip Patrick Lacey and Wilbur Langley Pridgen, Charlotte, N.C., assignors to Nemo Engineering Co., Charlotte, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Feb. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 614,580 5 Claims. (Cl. 139-157) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A composite textile loom picker stick having desirable physical characteristics of fracture strength, resilience and abrasive wear resistance is obtained by the combination of a core member having an overall configuration substantially that of a conventional picker stick and a layer of polymeric material forming a sheath at least substantially encasing the core member. Preferred materials for the core member are wood and fiberglass, and preferred materials for the sheath are polyurethanes within specific ranges of specific gravity, Durometer values, and thickness.

Conventional textile looms use picker sticks as an important element of the pick motion which throws a shuttle from a shuttle box and back and forth through a warp shed. In this mechanical motion, it is necessary that a picker stick have sufiicient elasticity or whippiness to properly accelerate the shuttle from the shuttle box, a fracture strength in the proper range to operate normally While interrupting operation of the loom by breaking in the event of improper loom timing or adjustment, and sufiicient resistance to abrasive wear and fatigue to provide a satisfactory economical operating life while withstanding the strains of check motion operation. Heretofore, this somewhat contradictory list of desired physical properties and characteristics has best been met through the use of wooden picker sticks formed from first quality hickory.

In recent years it has become difficult if not virtually impossible to obtain first quality hickory lumber for manufacture into picker sticks and, accordingly, textile mills have begun of necessity to use either lower quality picker sticks or more expensive laminated construction picker sticks. The use of lower quality picker sticks is reflected directly in more frequent loom stoppages and in a requirement of greater care in setting up the pick motion as a loom is returned to production. The use of more expensive fabricated picker sticks highlights the economic advantages which could be gained by extending the wear life of a picker stick.

With the aforementioned difiiculties and deficiencies of presently available hickory picker sticks particularly in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a picker stick wherein the physical properties desired for proper loom operation are more carefully controlled and more readily attained, through the use of a composite structure for the picker stick. To accomplish this object of the present invention, a composite textile loom picker stick is produced which comprises a core member and a sheath of polymeric material at least substantially encasing the core member, as described in greater detail hereinafter.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated, others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a first picker stick in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged section view through the "ice picker stick of FIGURE 1, taken substantially along the line 2--2 in that figure;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, taken substantially along the line 3-3;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 of a second picker stick in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 of the picker stick of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of one step in the manufacture of the picker stick of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURES 2 and 4 through the apparatus of FIGURE 6, taken substantially along the line 7-7 in that figure; and

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7 and to FIGURES 3 and 5, taken substantially along the line 88.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a first textile loom picker stick constructed in accordance with the present invention is there shown, and generally identified at 10 (FIGURES 1-3). In order to obtain desired physical characteristics and properties for the picker stick 10, and in accordance with the present invention, the picker stick 10 is of composite construction and comprises a core member 11 and a sheath or covering layer 12 of polymeric material, as described more fully hereinafter.

The overall configuration of the core member 11 preferably is substantially similar to that of a conventional picker stick. On order to permit ready installation of the picker stick 10 of the present invention in existing textile looms, as described more fully hereinafter, the core mem ber 11 has a mounting opening 14 extending therethrough and may have external dimensions which are slightly less than predetermined standard dimensions for a picker stick intended for use with any particular loom structure. The mounting opening 14 extending through the core member 11 is preferably oversize with regard to the mounting bolt, pin, or other structure employed in the conventional textile loom for which the picker stick 10 is intended. The core member 111 of the first picker stick 10 is formed of wood and, for economic reasons, may be second quality or poorer hickory wood which would not otherwise be acceptable for picker stick use.

In order to upgrade the physical characteristics and properties of the wooden core member 11 and thereby provide the desired physical characteristics and properties for the composite stick 10, the core member 11 is encased by the sheath 12 of polymeric material. In order to provide a long operating life for the bearing surface of the picker stick 10 where the stick is engaged by the textile loom pick motion, the sheath 12 of polymeric material enters into and lines the mounting opening 14 formed in the core member 11 (FIGURE 2). As it may be desirable to have the dimensions of the picker stick 10 substantially correspond to predetermined standard dimensions fora picker stick, and thereby gain ready interchangeability of the picker stick 10 of this invention with a more conventional wooden stick, the thickness of the polymeric material sheath 12 (FIGURE 3) may be such that the external dimensions of the picker stick 10, as well as the internal diameter of the mounting opening extending therethrough, may be substantially those of a chosen conventional picker stick. However, it is to be understood that the final dimensions of the picker stick 10 of the present invention, either as an entity or as components therefor, may readily be modified in order to adapt the stick to other loom constructions or other required physical characteristics and properties.

In order to provide the desired elasticity for the picker stick 10 While improving the abrasive wear qualities thereof, the polymeric material used for the sheath 12 and the thickness thereof are selected to impart the desired characteristics. The material preferred in accordance with the present invention is polyurethane, which has been found suitable where the polyurethane has a specific gravity within the range of from 1.03 to 1.13 and a Durometer value within the range of from 90 on the A scale to 65 on the D scale. Such a polyurethane, when applied as a sheath 12 encasing the wooden core 11 and having a thickness within the range of from inch to inch, results in a composite picker stick 10 with the desired qualities and characteristics enumerated herein and wherein the grain of the wooden core member is sealed against all entry of moisture so as to entirely avoid warpage otherwise resulting therefrom.

In producing such a picker stick 1t] employing a wooden core member 11 and a polyurethane sheath 12, the wooden core member 11 is positioned within the cavity of a suitable mold indicated generally at 20 (FIGURES 68) and supported by pins 21 engaging a minimal surface area of the core member, to support the same suspended within the mold. A suitable core 22, having an external diameter corresponding to the desired internal diameter for the mounting opening which penetrates the picker stick 10, is positioned within the oversize opening 14 formed in the core member 11, and the mold 20 is then filled with polyurethane material through filling openings 23. The polyurethane material is thus molded to assume the desired external configuration for the composite picker stick 10.

The present invention contemplates the use of a second composite picker stick, indicated generally at 30 in FIG- URES 4 and wherein elements of the composite picker stick 30 corresponding to elements of the picker stick previously described are identified by third decade numbers with a corresponding terminal digit. The principal distinction between the picker sticks 10 and 30 is that the core member 31 of the composite picker stick 30 is formed of resin bonded glass fibers such as a plurality of layers of fabric woven from glass fibers, cut to configuration, saturated with a bonding resin and set into the core member form. The imperviousness of such resin bonded materials permits leaving limited areas of the core member 31 free from the polymeric sheath 32, if desired. For this reason, the composite picker stick 30 may be constructed entirely from synthetic materials and the physical characteristics and properties thereof chosen by design to accommodate particular looms, rather than being limited to the properties of a varying natural product such as wood.

In the drawings and specification, there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

We claim:

1. A textile loom picker stick comprising a core member having the overall configuration of a picker stick and a mounting opening therethrough, and

a monolithic sheath of polyurethane at least substantially enclosing said core member and lining said opening and wherein said polyurethane has a specific gravity within the range of from about 1.03 to about 1.13 and a Durometer value within the range of from about on the A scale to about 65 on the D scale.

2. A textile m picker stick according to claim 1 wherein said core member is formed of wood and said sheath is molded polyurethane and entirely encases said wooden core member.

3. A textile loom picker stick according to claim 2 wherein said sheath of polyurethane has a thickness within the range of from about inch to about inch.

4. A textile loom picker stick according to claim 1 wherein said core member is formed of resin bonded glass fibers and said sheath is molded polyurethane.

5. A textile loom picker stick according to claim 4 wherein said sheath of polyurethane has a thickness within the range of from about A inch to about A inch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,389,595 11/1945 Carter et al. 139157 2,471,532 5/1949 Menking 139-157 2,606,576 8/1952 Cox 139-157 2,674,276 8/1954 Lundstrom 139-157 2,681,081 6/1954 Scott 139157 3,021,307 2/1962 Csendes 281 FOREIGN PATENTS 605,182 5/1960 Italy. 349,231 11/ 1960 Switzerland.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

I. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

